Bella ciao

If Cobolli wakes up, he wins...

Flavio is like that, he alternates between monstrous tournaments and disgusting ones. He loses motivation, and his tennis with it. So the equation is always the same at the start of a tournament: is he going to be motivated?

On top of that, I remember his match in Rome against another Italian buddy: Luca Nardi. He completely collapsed. I don’t have the stats for his matches against Italians, but I admit it scares me a bit.

On his side, Pellegrino has FINALLY qualified for the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament. He’s confirming his excellent tournament in Rome, and he’ll be able to play without pressure here, with the satisfaction of a job already well done. Small downside, I didn’t see him play as well in the qualifiers as he did in Rome, but I think he’s going to free himself up here.

In terms of match-up, we really have two clay-courters who hit hard from the baseline with their forehand. When he’s in form, Cobolli is more resilient in the rallies. And he serves better.

So, is Cobolli back or not?